Last night Prime and I caught Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness on Disney+. As always, I have thoughts on the film, but they will include spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it yet or don’t want to know, don’t hit the jump. Everyone else? Let’s go!
-Starting the whole thing off with what amounts to a nightmare was pretty cool. The idea that yes, you are somewhat subconsciously aware of your multiversal self was a really good touch. Also, the idea that your dreams are actually incidents in your life, just not in this universe does give one pause. (Great, in some other universe I have completely screwed up studying for a test in high school! And worse, shown up to take it sans clothing!)
-We get a glimpse of what is happening with Wanda, AKA the Scarlet Witch, since taking over an entire town in WandaVision. Honestly, I don’t know if I really liked how they took her character; she came across as having terminal baby rabies and it got less sympathetic and more irritating the longer I watched. Her plan wasn’t the greatest, either: sure,she might find a part of the multiverse that had her sons, but they wouldn’t be hers. Instead, they would be the children of that universe’s Wanda, and they wouldn’t see her as their mother. I guess this can be explained as grief fucks people up, but it really wasn’t a great idea.
-I lost literally all the sympathy I had for her pretty damn quickly. Wanda went from being one of the Avengers to literally trash in my eyes. It really sucks because I honestly liked her, but now that’s gone.
-Meeting the Illuminati in universe 838 was awesome. I’ll get to them later.
-America Chavez is pretty damn awesome. It’s not just her power but how she used it to defeat Wanda; we’re talking about a proverbial chef’s kiss. Damn. Ice cold and pitch perfect.
-Wong is amazing, as always. Dude just can’t help kicking ass and being awesome.
-The Illuminati were fucking incredible. Seriously. We had Black Bolt–portrayed by Anson Mount, no less!–Captain Monica Rambeau Marvel, Mr. Fantastic(!), Captain Peggy Carter(!!), Baron Mordo, and Charles FUCKING Xavier, who was none other than Patrick Stewart as he should always be and you will never convince me otherwise. We are talking about epic amounts of coolness. Unfortunately, they came across as somewhat squandered because…
-We have to watch helplessly as Wanda uses the Darkhold and takes almost every last one of them down. Mentally, I was switching from feelings of pure horror–two of those deaths are not really bloody but utterly gruesome–and blinding rage. This is the second fucking time I’ve had to watch an insane, drunk with power redhead callously murder Professor Xavier and let me tell you, I was absolutely not here for it.
-That was the exact moment when I lost every last shred of sympathy I had for Wanda. Just like Jean Grey in X3, I went from zero to “That miserable waste of flesh needs to die slowly” in under a micro-second. Like I said, not here for it.
-However, the entire Illuminati might not be gone: there’s an outside chance that Mordo survived.
-The basic theme/common thread that ran through this movie was happiness. Strange really isn’t happy with his life. Whether he wants to admit it or not, he pretty much always ends up alone in every universe. One of his multiversal selves basically cracked and tried to jump into a different universe where he was happy. Another basically kept Dreamwalking, screwed up everything and had to pay the ultimate price. It wasn’t just Wanda’s happiness at stake here.
-America realizes that she isn’t strong enough to defeat Wanda, so she gives her exactly what she wants and needs: a figurative slap to the face. America opens a portal into the 838 universe and although MCU Wanda is right there, her sons in the same room with her, they panic and run to that universe’s Wanda. She starts to understand that no, those aren’t her children, that what she’s chasing she will never truly have. It’s harsh, but it’s well deserved.
-“Know that they’ll be loved.”
-Bruce Campbell. That is all.
-Although not straight up horror, a lot of the imagery is very disturbing. I have to say this is more psychological than action oriented.
-Sam Raimi might not know how to handle Venom, but he sure knows what the hell he’s doing with Doctor Strange. Damn good job, man.
If you haven’t seen it yet, go for it! You can catch it on Disney+ anytime. But it’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t had the chance to see it already.
Iacon East 